$0 raised. No developer hired yet. Four months until 2026 ends, and no runway behind the countdown. In Episode 1 of Building Financial Joy, disabled founder Ruby "SunShine" Taylor opens her Baltimore City rowhouse door on building a fintech startup in real time: the Financial Joy Index™, a shame-free financial wellness check-in designed with the disability community in mind, and built for everyone traditional fintech leaves behind, licensed to credit unions, CDFIs, and banks.

Today, one answer came in. Two more are still out. A developer meeting is on the calendar for tomorrow, with no funding fully locked to pay for it. A possible partnership is taking shape. And by Wednesday, Ruby may give away her first piece of equity to bring on a co-founder, because when you have no cash, that's the trade you make. What happens in each of those rooms, you'll find out the same week she does.

This is startup building, fintech, and disability advocacy with nothing smoothed over, real pitch meetings, real grant applications, real hiring decisions, as they happen, not after they're safely resolved.

A note before you listen: Ruby is a stutterer. At times you'll hear her stumble, and she keeps going, because she's a thriver, not a complainer. That's not a flaw in this show. It's the show.

New episodes every Tuesday.

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